Shell violin with floating sound board



United States Patent [72] Inventor Walter D. Ludwig 3865 W. LincolnDrive, Birmingham, Michigan 48010 [21] Appl. No.' 788,121 [22] FiledDec. 31,1968 [45] Patented Aug. 11, 1970 [54] SHELL VIOLIN WlTl-lFLOATING SOUND BOARD 20 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl. 84/274, 84/275, 84/277, 84/309 [51] lnt.Cl G10d1/02, G 10d3/02 [50] Field of Search 84/274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 309

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 129,653 7/1872 Collins84/309 1,317,089 9/1919 Maine et a1 84/275 1,349,700 8/1920 Virzi 84/194Primary Examiner- Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner- Lawrence R.Franklin Attorney-Donnelly, Mentag and Harrington ABSTRACT: A violinhaving a shell or resonating enclosure which has a traditional shape andin which is disposed an internal, axially extended substructure on whichis rockably mounted an indepe'ndentand floating sound board thatsupports a bridge which extends through a slot in the top wall or bellyof the shell. The pressure of the violin strings on the bridge maintainsthe bridge in position on the sound board, and when the violin stringsvibrate laterally they transmit a rocking motion to the bridge and ittransmits most of the motion to the sound board and to an adjustabletreble bar which replaces the usual sound post and to a base bar mountedto the sound board.

Patented Aug. 11, 19 70 Sheet INVENTOR.

WALTER D. LUD WIG ww 1 1 1 mm k 1 ATTORNEYS INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS WALTER D.LUDWIG Patehtea Aug. 11, 1970 Sheet g of 2 SHELLVIOLIN WITH FLOATING SOUND BOARD SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates generally to musical instruments of the string family, and moreparticularly to a novel shell violin provided with an independentfloating sound board.

It is common knowledge today that good vintage violins are vanishing asa marketable commodity. Some few remaining good vintage specimens residein Museums, a good number are in the possession of collectors, and a feware held by the elite of the musicians. It is also an established factthat good, old instruments of lesser quality lie dormant and decaying indealers hands for lack of enough qualified violin makers to repair orrestore these instruments.

The few remaining men of professional violin making skill have littletime to devote to creating new instruments. As a consequence, thepresent general violin market is supplied with so-called productionviolins of varying degrees of mediocrity. These'production violins arealso subject to variation due to changing seasons and humidity in thesame manner as the old hand-made instruments. These violins areproduction violins only in the sense that they are produced in adetailed likeness of the traditional hand made versions, duplicatingevery time-consuming step toward completion. Moreover, the very natureof the conventional instruments structure does not lend itself to todaysconcept of production.

Published scientific studies devoted to the acoustical properties ofviolins have been made in recent years. Application of this accumulateddata combined with modern materials and methods can result in a goodmanufacturable instrument in thetraditional concept. The need exists notonly for a durable instrument for student use but for an acceptableinstrument for professional use as well.

The present invention takes into consideration all of the foregoing andembodies a new and novel design approach which at the same time retainsenough of the traditional appearance to not offend the sensibilities ofa discriminating musician.

It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide aviolin that adheres reasonably to the general concept of traditionalappearance, which is of predictable high quality in tone production,eliminates allskilled handwork, lends itself t o up-to-date productionmethods, and which is economical to manufacture.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a violin havinga stable and substantially rigid internal sub-structure to support theload induced by string tension and which will not vary with the changingseasons or changes of humidity.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a violinhaving an independent and floating sound board mounted on an internalsubstructure, and a resonating enclosure which is readily assembled toor removed from the substructure, and a bridge means which extendsthrough the top of the resonating enclosure to communicate with theinternal sound board.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide aviolin having a treble" bar which is adjustable and removably attachedto an independent sound board structure.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel andimproved means forassembling a chin rest to a violin. I

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel violinshoulder rest which is resilient and fully adjustable to a playersrequirements.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide avirtually indestructible high quality violin which, however, requires noparticular skill to service or repair.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a novelviolin comprising a resonating shell or body of traditional shape whichis made from a plastic sheet material reinforced w-Ith fiberglass, aunitary cast lightweight metal neckand-scroll structure which ispreferably made from magnesiurn, a rigid internal sub-structure mountedin the shell, an independent sound board, means for rockably mountingthe sound board on said sub-structure, a base bar carried by the soundboard, a treble bar adjustably carried by the sound board mountingmeans, a bridge seated on the sound board and extended through a slot inthe top wall of the shell, and violin strings secured to the neckstructure and a tail piece on the shell and engaging said bridge tomaintain ,the bridge in position on the sound board.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the principles ofthe present invention may be applied to any instrument of the stringfamily and that they are not confined to a violin alone.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will beapparent from the following detailed description, appended claims, andthe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawingsi FIG. 1 is a top planview, with parts removed, of a violin made in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1,with parts in section, taken substantially along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is an elevational section view of the structure illustrated inFIG. 2, taken along the line 3-3 thereof, and looking in the directionof the arrows; and,

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, end elevational view of the structureillustrated in FIG. 2, taken along the line 4-4 thereof, and looking inthe direction of the arrows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, andin particular to FIGS. 1

and 2, the numeral 10 generally designates a unitary, castneck-pegbox-scroll structure which is preferably made of magnesium orsome other suitable lightweight metal. In FIG. 2, the numerals l1, l2and 13 represent the neck, pegbox and scroll portions of theaforementioned unitary structure. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the numeral14 generally designates the shell or body of the violin which functionsas a resonating enclosure that is made essentially in the shape of aviolin body. The shell 14 may be made from any suitable material, as forexample, a plastic sheet material reinforced with fiberglass. The violinshell includes the top wall 15, the bottom wall 16, the front wall 17,the back wall 18, the left side wall 19, and the right side wall 20.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cast neck portion 11 includes on its backend an integral flange 23 and a machined taper shank 24. The flange 23and the shank 24 extend into the shell 14 through the opening 21 in theshell front wall 17. The shell front wall 17 is secured in a releasablemanner to the flange 23 by the screws 25. An elongated piece of tubing26 is disposed axially in the shell 14 with its front end reamed andmounted on the shank 24 and its back end slidably mounted on a secondshank 27. The shank 27 is integrally formed on the inner side of aflange 28 which is disposed on the inside surface of the shell back wall18. The flange 28 is secured in a releasable manner to the shell backwall 18 by the screws 29. The flanges 23 and 28 are contoured to fit theinner surfaces of the shell at the front and back ends thereof. Thetubing 26, the shank 27 and the flange 28 are preferably made frommagnesium or some other suitable lightweight metal.

As shown in FIG. I, the shell top wall 15 is secured in a releasablemanner to the front flange 23 by the screws 32 and to the back flange 28by the screws 33. As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the shell bottom wall16, the shell side walls 19 and 20, and the shell front and back walls17 and 18 are all formed together as a single integral structure. Theshell top wall 15 is formed separately and is secured to the shell sidewalls 19 and 20 by a plurality of blocks 34 and screws 35. The blocks 34are secured to the inside surfaces of the shell side walls 19 and 20 byany suitable adhesive and they are made from the same material as theshell side walls 19 and 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, the straight shank 27 is provided with a tapped hole36 which registers with an elongated slot 37 in the tubing 26. A screw38 is mounted in the tapped hole 36 for securing the tubing 26 to theshank 27 in an adjusted position to compensate for variations in lengthof the tubing 26, the shanks 24 and 27, and the shell 14.

As shown in FIG. 2,.a pair of circular collars 39 and 40 are slidablymounted on the tubing 26 and are adapted to be secured in desired adjusted positions by the screws 41 and 42, respectively. The collars 39and 40 are made preferably from magnesium or other suitable lightweightmetal.

The aforedescribed tubing 26 and its supporting structure form aninternal sub-structure on which is rockably mounted an independent andfloating sound board or plate, generally indicated by the numeral 46 inFIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the sound board 46 is provided with aplan configuration which conforms to the shape of a conventional violintop but which is reduced in size. The sound board 46 is flat and made intwo symmetrical half-pieces 47 and 48 which are glued together along theviolin centerline 49. The sound board 46 is made from any suitable wood,as for example pine or spruce, and it is made of a suitable thicknessand grain structure conforming to a conventional violin top. Thegrain-structure of both pieces of the sound board 46 is disposed in thevertical direction to provide uniform and symmetrical grain structurethroughout the entire sounding board.

The sound board 46 is glued to the top of two longitudinally spacedsaddle members 50 and 51 which have half-circles (FIG. 3) formed ontheir bottom sides for seating on the tubing 26. The saddle members 50and 51 are made preferably from pine or spruce. The collars 39 and 40are disposed against the saddle members 50 and 51 (FIG. 2) to retain thei sound board 46 in the desired position in the shell 14. The saddlemembers 50 and SI are affixed centrally to the underside I of the soundboard 46 and positioned at the intersection of the nodal lines of thevibrating sound board. The sound board 46 rests freely on top of thetubing 26, and it is obvious that the sound board 46 is free to rotateabout the axis of the tubing 26 to seek a normal balanced position dueto the resultant forces of string tension which converge onapproximately the axis of the tubing 26.

As shown in FIGS. l and 2, the top of the sound board 46 is reinforcedby a pair of criss-crossing ribs 52 and 53 adjacent its front end, andby a pair of criss-crossing ribs 54 and 55 adjacent its back end. Thesound board 46 is also reinforced by an axially extended central rib 56on the top thereof. The reinforcing ribs are all glued to the soundboard 46, at positions to follow substantially the nodal lines of thesound board so as not to inhibit vibration of the sound board. Thereinforcing ribs are made preferably from pine or spruce. The soundboard 46 is provided with a protective band 57 which is affixed aroundthe periphery thereof by any suitable adhesive to protect the edge grainof the wood sound board. The band 57 maybe made from any suitablematerial, as for example a suitable wood or plastic.

As shown in FIGS. l, 2 and 3, the soundboard 46 is provided withaconventional base bar generally indicated by the numeral 60. The basebar 60 is made preferably from pine or spruce and it is glued to theunderside of the sound board 46 on the left half-piece 47. The base bar60 transmits the lower tones of the violin throughout the sound board.

The sound board 46 is provided on the right side thereof with a taperedtreble bar generally indicated by the numeral 61. As shown in FIG. 3,the front saddle member 50 is notched out on its right side to provide aledge ,62 on which is supported the long or front end of the treble bar61. The short or back end of the treble bar 61 is also supported by asimilar ledge 63 (FIG. I) formed on the back saddle member 51. As shownin FIGS. 1 and 3, the treble bar 61 is provided with an upwardlyextended projection 64 which engages the underside I of the sound board46 so as to support the right foot 65 of the .61 is spaced from thesound board 46 except at the projection 64. The treble bar 61 is sprunginto place by inserting the back end on the ledge 62 and then springingthe front long end into place on the ledge 62 so that there is a tensionon the treble bar 61 and a pressure applied on the sound board 46 at theproper point behind the bridge 66 in alignment with the bridge rightfoot 65. The treble bar 61 is made from pine or spruce. The treble bar61 functions in the same manner as a conventional sound post and it canbe adjusted forwardly and backwardly by sliding it in a direction toprovide the desired violin sound and to control the same.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bridge 66 rests on and extends upwardlyfrom the sound board 46 through the slot 67 formed through the shell topwall 15. The bridge 66 is of a special design compared to conventionalbridges. It is higher and wider at the base than conventional bridges.

The violin of the present invention is strung in the conventionalmanner. As shown in FIGS. land 2, the strings 68 extend over thefingerboard 69 and their front ends are operatively attached to theusual pegs 70. The fingerboard 69 is glued or cemented in place on thecast neck portion 11. A conventional tailpiece 73 retains the back endsof the strings 68 in the usual manner. The tailpiece 73 has affixed tothe rear end thereof a loop of nylon cord 74 which has one end loopedaround the grooved head of a screw 75 which is threadably secured to thecast rear end flange 28. A conventional chin rest 76 is secured by thescrews 33 to the rear end flange 28.

The numeral 77 generally designates a shoulder rest comprising avertical bar 78 which is provided with a longitudinal slot 79 at itsupper end. The slot 79 is adapted to receive the screw 29 which alsoserves to attach the rear flange 28 to the shell rear wall 18. The slot79 permits the bar 78 to be adjusted upwardly and downwardly. A secondbar 80 is integrally attached to the lower end of the bar 78. The bar 80slopes downwardly under the shell 14 to form an L-shaped attachmentmember. The shoulder rest includes a third bar 81 which has one endattached by the screw 82 to the bar 80 and the other end covered by aresilient tubing 83 for engagement with the shoulder of the violinist.The screw 82 locks the bar 81 in a desired adjusted position.

As shown in FIG. 1, the shell top wall 15 is provided with a pair ofusual f" openings formed by the hole positions 84 and 85, and by thehole positions 86 and 87. The shell top wall 15 may also be providedwith additional auxiliary openings as 84a, 84b, 84c, 85a, 85b, 85c, 86a,86b, 86c, 87a, 87b, and 87c. The auxiliary openings are projections ofthe basic f" openings.

In use, the violin of the present invention is played in the usualmanner. The pressure of the strings 68 is transmitted through the bridge66 to the sound board 46 which assumes a normal level position. Thesound board 46 is allowed to vibrate freely in response to the energyinduced by the vibrating strings 68. In the violin structure of thepresent invention a proper pitch relationship is provided between thevibrating board 46 and the air resonance for this particular structure.

Consistency is maintained in repetitive assemblies of violins' due tothe ease of duplicating the contours of the sound board I 46 and outershell 14. An instrument made in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention has a sensitive response the instrument. Theinstrument is also stable in structure and is not affected by changes inseasons or humidity.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of i theinvention herein disclosed is well c'alculatedto fulfill the objectsabove stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptibleto modification, variation and change.

I claim:

1. In a stringed musical instrument of the violin famiI yQthe'combination comprising:

(a) a resonating enclosure including a top wall, a front end wall, aback end wall, a bottom wall, a left side wall and a right side wall;

(b) an independent sound board in said enclosure;

(c) means in said enclosure for operatively supporting said independentsound board; and,

(d) a string bridge having a left foot and a right foot resting on saidsound board, and having the upper end thereof extended through a slot inthe top wall of said resonating enclosure.

2. The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in Claim 1,wherein:

(a) said independent sound board is rockably mounted on said supportingmeans. 3. The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in Claim2, wherein:

(a) said supporting means includes an axially extended tubing; and,

(b) said independent sound board is provided on the lower side thereofwith means for rockably mounting the sound board on said tubing.

4. The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in Claim 1,wherein:

(a) said independent sound board is provided with a base bar and with anadjustable treble bar.

5. The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in Claim 1,wherein:

(a) said independent sound board includes two symmetrical portionsjoined along the centerline of the resonating enclosure.

6. The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in Claim 1,wherein:

(a) said independent sound board has a plan configuration conforming tothe plan shape of the resonating enclosure.

7. The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in Claim 1,wherein:

(a) said independent sound board comprises a flat wood board with thegrain disposed vertically with the flat surface of the board and runningparallel with the length of the board.

8. The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in I Claim 7,wherein:

(a) said independent sound board is provided with a protective bandaround the periphery thereof. 9. The stringed musical instrumentstructure as defined in Claim 1, wherein:

(a) said independent sound board is provided with a plurality ofreinforcing ribs on the top side thereof. 10. The stringed musicalinstrument structure as defined in Claim 1, wherein:

(a) said resonating enclosure is formed from sheet plastic reinforcedwith fiberglass.

11. The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in Claim 1,wherein:

(a) said resonating enclosure top wall is provided with a pair of fopenings.

12. The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in Claim 11,wherein:

(a) said resonating enclosure top wall is also provided with a pluralityof auxiliary openings.

13. The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in Claim 1,wherein: Y

(a) said means for supporting said independent sound board includes arigid internal sub-structure detachably mounted in said resonatingenclosure.

14. The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in Claim 13,including:

(a) a tailpiece secured to said rigid internal sub-structure by a cordattached to a retaining member fixed to said sub-structure.

15. The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in Claim 13,including:

(a) a resilien ad ustable shoulder rest secured to said sub-structureand being adjustable to a players requirements. 16. The stringed musicalinstrument structure as defined in Claim 1, wherein:

(a) said resonating enclosure comprises a shell having a violin shape.17. The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in Claim 13,wherein said internal sub-structure comprises:

(a) a front end flange secured to the resonating enclosure; (b) a backend flange secured to the resonating enclosure; and, (c) an elongatedmember mounted between said flanges for supporting said sound board. 18.The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in I Claim 17,wherein:

(a) said flanges and elongated member are formed from a lightweightmetal. 19. The stringed musical instrument structure as defined in Claim13, wherein:

(a) said instrument includes a unitary neck-pegbox-scroll structureconnected to said rigid internal sub-structure. 20. The stringed musicalinstrument structure as defined in Claim 19, wherein:

(a) said neck-pegbox-scroll structure is formed from a lightweight metaland is integral with a portion of said internal sub-structure.

